Solicitors have welcomed new government initiatives aimed at streamlining procedures for dealing with family disputes and keeping them out of the courts.

Family resolution pilots - announced last week by children's minister Margaret Hodge - will be held in London, Brighton and Sunderland, with the aim of diverting families from courts by helping them agree solutions between themselves.

Parents will meet a family mediator within two weeks; they currently have to wait up to 16 weeks for the first hearing.

The trials will run for a year before they are evaluated and will be rolled out nationally if they prove a success.

The government also pledged an additional 3.5 million for child contact services and new forms to ensure that judges are aware of possible domestic violence.

'By helping more parents agree practical solutions that will benefit their children, we believe that we can divert many families from lengthy, costly and damaging disputes that experience shows will leave many unhappy with the outcome,' Ms Hodge said.

Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA) chairwoman Kim Beatson said it backed any measures that helped to avoid unnecessary litigation.

'We welcome the pilot schemes as a positive development and hope they will assist separating parents in agreeing practical arrangements which meet the needs of their children,' she added.

The government announced its plans in the same week that the Law Society launched guidance for solicitors working with children.

Good Practice in Child Care Cases covers public law Children Act proceedings, as well as general guidance on acting for local authority clients, representing children or their guardians, and acting for parents and other adults.

Speaking at the launch of the guide, High Court family division president Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss said it would be vital to the smooth running of the courts in children cases.

'Judicial protocol cannot work without solicitors doing a good job,' she said.

See [2004] Gazette, 25 March, page 43

Paula Rohan